edit, never mind

Both of our two have had a couple of hour nap over lunch time, they have always seemed to need it. Even if they wake up after 30 mins or so they will go back to sleep for another hour, you do have to let the cry for a bit.

However I would second the sling suggestion, babies seemed to stay entertain when they are being carried about. If not that get a proper rucksack style carrier, although at 5 months they will be a bit small for it.

At 5.5 months popping then in a playpen with some toys is exactly what we did. Keep the playpen in the room where you are doing the housework so that they can see you and don't feel abandoned.

Playnests are brilliant.

Not sure if they come in tasteful pastel shades though. Perhaps you shoudl see if Habitat make one that would fit your lifestyle.

"we used one of those laid back chair things"
She's too big for all those.

I don't know what you're thinking of as a chair, but we have a rocking chair which our 2.5 year old would still fit in if he got the chance – however it's normally occupied by our 4.5 month old who's learned to rock it himself and really loves it (apart from being able to rock it himself he can sit and watch mum and dad).

If we left her on the floor she'd not be able to play with her toys since she'd be on her back

Rather than rolling over onto her front? If she's not doing that then maybe she needs more practice…

ive 2 wee yins, one 7 and the other is 1 on tuesday, hows about a baby walker, she's had her's now about 4 months and now she,s walking about 80% of the time, now the walker comes in handy for feeding, and is also usefull for keeping her mits off our food as by the time we get to eat she's ready for snacks, and cant grab as the reach is just right , i couldnt recomend one enough
they get around on them, even if at the early crawling stage, also have adjustable height settings and some have add on toys, the tray is a great too
there's probably only about 6 to 10 months before its redundant though

re. Baby Walkers…

http://pediatricservices.com/parents/pc-21.htm

why not get a sling and take her with you.?

Now, I like this idea. I tried it with one we had originally and it was hard to get much done with a baby dangling in front of you. We've now got a much better sling but she's loads bigger and heavier, which makes it hard work. I'd probably do this but really it's the Mrs that's having to deal with it and she's not happy about going up and down stairs with a baby and basket of laundry etc.. I can't imagine doing dishes and whatnot either to be honest.

As for rolling over, she can but doesn't seem to want to. Why roll over when you're just going to have to be propping yourself up on your arms all the time thus rendering you unable to play with any toys? (for play with toys, read picking things up and trying to stuff them into your mouth).

What she really likes it going out and doing stuff.. which of course is not always possible… I think that's the problem.

Why roll over when you're just going to have to be propping yourself up on your arms all the time thus rendering you unable to play with any toys?

Like I said, maybe she needs more practice. Our little one spent a while just rolling onto his front, not being able to do anything there and eventually getting upset. Now he can move toys around lying on his front (that and roll back again). It's something she's going to have to learn at some point.

It does take a bit of practise but then that's true of everything worthwhile in life..
As for dealing with the weight, both my wife and I have noticed that our 'child carrying muscles' are following on at a couple of weeks from the kids growth spurts.. 🙂 Spend a couple of weeks wondering how they got so heavy and then realise another week later that they don't seem heavy anymore..!

The slings can be tricky to get right, but it's worth persevering and as I mentioned, both myself and my wife (who has a bad back, has had prolapsed disc surgery) can carry our 3 year old in the sling quite easily for a couple of hours.

re. Baby Walkers…

http://pediatricservices.com/parents/pc-21.htm
"Almost all of the children were injured after falling down stairs while in the walker.

Prevention strategies such as adult supervision, warning labels and stairway gates are not enough to make the walkers safe."

Well I've got a much better prevention strategy – don't use one upstairs! 🙄

Not that I'm about to get one for ours (first one certainly didn't have one), as the rest of the article makes sense, but duuuuuuuh to letting kids fall downstairs in one!

well you have to make allowances for idiot americans..! 😉

re. Baby Walkers…

point taken, we as both full time working parents were aware of this, however in the short time between the complete family bieng at home doing the family thing and the litle one in la-la land is a short few hours , the time needed, which is realy needed in a busy house at times, there are pro's and cons to them all, i cannot see how those times in the walker have done damage to my wee monster
slings, swings, whatever, babies are hard work and no two are the same so whatever makes them happy is good for me

Get a dog? That should offer the little thing a bit of stimulation. It won't necessarily help her posture though.

Here here..

It's the wife's fault.. she's turned me into a sling evangelist..!

molgrips

Reading this I've got to agree with the 'let her cry' comments. I'm the dad of three (very soon to be four) all my kids have gone to bed by 7:30pm and slept through from about 6 months. Know what is a 'cry for help' and what is a 'comfort cry'

It's tough but it works. I really love my kids but I also really value my relationship with Mrs.T so appreciate those few hours of 'quality time' we get. Kids are not dumb, they know how to lay it on; just try and get the 'work / life balance' right – unless you like kids up half the night.

however it's normally occupied by our 4.5 month old who's learned to rock it himself

Which reminded me I'd been looking for an excuse to share this 🙂
http://www.vimeo.com/6660725

+1 for a Bumbo, brilliant but expensive. Worth every penny though, means you can get on with stuff in the kitchen whilst they sit with you.

I've got a four year old and a two year old who both spent a lot of time in one, now lo0king forward to our 4 week old being big enough to get in it.

And, don't be afraid to let her whinge…..

I can't believe this is still going………… 😕

we had a pod which is similar to the bumbo

also used a Baby Bjorn whic is great for doing jobs whilst entertaining

ear plugs and the ability to mentally shut off crying help a lot 😉

don't use TV to entertain, and animated cartoons completely banned (watch what happens to the kid when you turn them on)

we tried a play area (prison) but she hated it. Just made the lounge safe and dumped her in the pod or on a rug wth one of those things with dangly bits

but I'm a bad parent

carry our 3 year old in the sling quite easily for a couple of hours

Yeah carrying her is ok – it's doing housework at the same time that's tough.

Reading this I've got to agree with the 'let her cry' comments. I'm the dad of three (very soon to be four) all my kids have gone to bed by 7:30pm and slept through from about 6 months.

If we get Meg to go to bed at 7.30 she'll be up by 4am. At first the easiest way of my Wife getting decent sleep was keeping Meg up til 9 or 10 feeding her lots, then she'd sleep til 6. If we put her to bed earlier she'd be up at three, which was much harder to cope with. Her bedtime's been getting slighly earlier.

Know what is a 'cry for help' and what is a 'comfort cry'

As discussed above!

It's tough but it works.

Hmm, you mean it worked for you. Kids are all different 🙂

Nature or nurture…

These work a treat also

if it fits in.

Kids are all different

Yeah, but none of of them

has to be held and entertained constantly

unless you train them that way – fortunately it is possible to untrain them, though it's likely to be tough if you don't like them crying.

Aracer, did you read the whole thread?

I've tried to tell people a million times that the original post was worded badly, and the baby in question does not need to be actually held constantly.

We have to hold her a lot because there's nowhere else to put her. She needs attention because on her own she'll get stuck or lose stuff or otherwise get wound up.

We are not training a princess.

The thread is about seating not parenting. If you are just going to tell me how sh*t of a parent I am (when you have no idea if I am bad or not) then kindly f*ck off. I am quite annoyed with you lot thinking I am stupid.

Erm………you started it, then stumped up further evidence. Bless you.

OOh eck, as a parent of two reasonably.well-balanced kids,I was going to offer some advice.Similar to the above,but what's the point?
It's your life,do as you wish.

So the STW school of parenting is, if there's something they need then don't try too hard to work out what it is, just ignore them, is that right?

if there's something they need then don't try too hard to work out what it is, just ignore them

no, work out what might be bothering them and if it's the need to be entertained and picked up 24/7, talk to them and provide something else for them to look at and bash while you do what you need to do….

you're not their best friend, you're their parent…….

Ok listen. Read this carefully and try to understand.

The reason she needs holding is that she can't sit on her own for long without getting in a state. By that I mean face down and wrapped up in something. That's why she needs holding. It's not about emotional attachment, it's about physics and body control – okay? Got that?

So she can't entertain herself very well because she always ends up falling over. She does NOT like lying on her front for long (never has done) or on her back. She gets very angry and frustrated lying down because she can't see around her much.

So consequently, I wanted to see if anyone had any ideas about how to sit a baby other than a walker/playcentre type thing. It's as simple as that.

yeah we know, but you had a hefty pop back

what about a pushchair or car seat? ffs, its not rocket science…..

Have you tried sitting her in her high-chair? Then you can get on with stuff in the kitchen, move the chair, get on with stuff in the lounge etc.

Give her some toys on the tray which she'll happily chuck on the floor…over and over again!! 8)

Foxy…that brings back memories. Did that with both of ours….they're 17 and 13 now.

Right, I've had nearly 24 hours to chew this one over and this is what I think now!

Miss madam IS making a fuss about being left too long on her front or her back because she is not used to it. This is because she hasn't learned to deal with being on her front or back for very long. This is because when she moans at being on her back (or front) for too long, mr or mrs molgrips picks princess up and gives her a cuddle.

So one answer is to leave her a little longer (each time) on her front (or back) with toys to stimulate her. Give it a few days and she will be happier on her front (or back) for a longer period.

It's tough love time I'm afraid.

OR you could design / commission a larger than average doorway bouncer / activity centre / play nest and see how you go with that.

But this really is about attention and manipulation and not about special seating arrangements – sorry!

What do I win?

Agree with geoffj, our first one didn't play well on her own at that age either.

By that I mean face down and wrapped up in something.

if that's happening then maybe make sure there is nothing in reach she can get wrapped up in, and as for being on her front, she'll eventually work out how to roll, it's that sort of motivation that makes them work it out.

I also get the feeling you think it's her current environment that is stopping her from keeping herself entertained, may be, probably not. I think you need to realise that it may be some years before she'll happily play by herself, our daughter was over 3 before she'd sit and play happily for more than 10 mins by herself, now at 5 she'll play for hours. Just to contrast that our son is the opposite, at 15 months he'll quite happily go and find the toys out of the toybox or toy cupboard.

It seems like your looking for a mechanical solution to a problem that may not be solvable. I think judging by the other posts we've all been through it. Most kids at this age do not play well on their own however well there seating arrangements have been designed.

Sorry to keep banging on, but just to back up what geoffj says – when do you think she's going to start being happy lying on her back or her front? It's something she's going to have to learn to do at some point, or are you expecting her to go straight from sitting in chairs etc. to walking, skipping the crawling bit entirely? When she's spent a bit of time doing it she'll learn to hold her head up so she can see around her – doubtless she'll spend plenty of time getting frustrated because she can't do what she wants to do, but they all do.

To add to geoffj's advice, if the problem is that she can't reach anything to play with then put things she can play with within her reach – we have a baby gym a bit like this (though it's also got a mirror – both my sons have really enjoyed looking at themselves), which does just that. I know you're trying to get it so that she can be left whilst you do other stuff, but the other thing to do to start with is to play with her whilst she's lying there so she gets to like the idea.

BTW a bit earlier I did give what I think's a very good suggestion for what you seem to think you need.

How about a simple bean bag then? You can get them in boring plain colours and they have specialist baby ones. Try picking up any baby catalogue 😉

MG

Used this with all my kids – great trainer and support
http://www.childsplaysussex.co.uk/galt-farm-yard-soft-play-play-nest-and-gym-3338-0.html

TS, can't you get it? Nothing which has been of use to any other child in existence is of any value in this situation. We're dealing with a whole new kettle of ball game.

This may save her the trouble of learning to walk, roll over etc. Don't know if they do one for babies yet but you never know.

http://hplusmagazine.com/articles/robotics/cyborg-exoskeletons-may-soon-become-common-bicycles